Cash is King… So I saw this on my socials a while back and saved it, because I thought it would come in handy for a blog post. Anything that is written in italic is from the original post I saw and I wanted to share it with you as something to consider, not just at a craft fair but possibly when out shopping in general.
Cash is King
Why should we pay cash everywhere with banknotes instead of a card?
Say I have a £50 banknote in my pocket and I’m going to a restaurant and paying for dinner with it.
The restaurant owner then uses the note to pay for the laundry.
The laundry owner then uses it the note to pay the barber.
The barber will then use the note to pay for shopping.
After an unlimited number of payments, it will still remain a £50 value, which has fulfilled its purpose to everyone who used it for payment and the bank has jumped dry from every cash payment transaction made.
BUT…
IF I go to a restaurant and pay digitally via card…
the bank fees for my payment transaction charged to the seller are 3%, so around £1.50…
(and so will be the fee of £1.50 for each other payment transaction)
for the owner re laundry or
payments of the owner of the laundry shop
or payments of the barber etc…
Therefore, after 30 transactions the initial £50 will exist at only £5 and the remaining £45 has become the property of the bank thanks to all of the digital transactions and fees!!
Use it or lose it folks…
Once it’s gone we won;t get it back:
Cash is KING!!
It’s a quick, interesting read isn’t it? I can understand that using a bank card is somewhat easier, I mean there are some people that use their phones now and don’t even bother paying with an actual, physical card.
As always, there are pros and cons for both using cash and card. I must admit, I do use my card more than cash; at the moment I get cashback from every spend on my card. I’m not sure what I’ll do when that finishes, but I’ll think about it when that happens. The card I am using helps me track my spending, which is also something helpful when you just pay by cash.
Using cash at a craft fair is always a great thing to do. Most stallholders do have a card reader and whenever I’ve been asked by a customer, “Do you prefer cash or card?” my response is, “Whatever you prefer,” to which point the customer usually pays by card. I don’t mind, it means I have made a sale.
My SumUp card reader has one of the lowest (possibly the lowest) fee for a reader. It’s one of the reasons why I chose it and that there isn’t a monthly fee, like some other readers. But because of using a card reader at fairs, it bumps the price of my products up. Not by much, but I have to take into consideration the transaction fee of a possible card reader into every price-up of a product and I can’t discount it when someone pays by cash, as the next person might pay by card. So I have to ‘spread the cost of the fees’.
In the end, it’s up to us, the customers who decide how we want to pay. Card? Fine: a quick beep and it’s all done and paid for (unless the connectivity is playing up…). Cash? Well that’s fine too: it can be just as quick or an even quicker way to pay.